BBWAA Strikes Again

The Baseball Writers Association of America has done it again.  They're righting some of their wrongs, but they're also creating more at the same time.

What they got right:  The inductions.  Roberto Alomar should have been elected last year and Bert Blyleven was long overdue, having to wait until his 14th yer on the ballot - and second from last - to get elected.  It's about time the BBWAA got these two players right.  But without a no-doubt newcomer on the ballot this year it would have been difficult to pick anyone else.

What they may have gotten right:  There weren't any no-doubt Hall of Famers among the new players on the ballot.  I think that players like Jeff Bagwell are worthy to be in the Hall and I would have voted for them if given the chance, but he might not be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.  Others in that same boat are Edgar Martinez (who's not a second-ballot Hall of Famer either), Larry Walker, Fred McGriff, and Juan Gonzalez.  I think that Rafael Palmeiro was a first-ballot Hall of Famer even with the failed drug test and I think that Mark McGwire should have been elected by now, but I can also understand why a lot of people wouldn't vote for them.

What they're still getting wrong:  Dave Parker and Dale Murphy were neither first-ballot nor second-ballot Hall of Famers but seriously, it's about time we give them a pass.  They're never going to get voted off t he ballot.  I hate to see a player consistently get well over five percent of the vote and still manage to fail to get 75 percent of the vote too.  If the guy can stay on the ballot for 14 years, maybe he is a Hall of Famer after all.

What I can't explain:  Bruce Sutter had to wait a long time.  So did Goose Gossage.  How long will Lee Smith - who was far and away better than those two pitchers - have to wait?

What the BBWAA got deplorably, incorrigibly, and unforgivably wrong, again:  Harold Baines, the all-time leader in runs batted in by a DH, failed to get five percent of the vote.  He's now out of consideration.  He wasn't a first ballot Hall of Famer, but he should have at least been able to stay on the ballot.  Guess what folks, he was better than Edgar Martinez.  Tino Martinez, who hit 339 home runs in his career, was voted off the ballot on his first try.  He wasn't first ballot material either, but seriously, only one percent of the vote?  and in the finale John Franco.  I've talked about the long waits of Sutter and Gossage.  I've talked about Smith.  Franco got 4.6 percent of the vote.  424 career saves.  The fourth highest total ever.  The most all-time by a lefthander.  Wow BBWAA.  Wow.